Flourishing slave trade racket from northern parts of West Bengal to Kashmir unearthed

Flourishing slave trade racket from northern parts of West Bengal to Kashmir unearthed

Initial investigations reveal that only the tip of the proverbial
iceberg has been unearthed in what is a long-standing and flourishing
racket in slave trade from the northern parts of West Bengal to Kashmir.

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Ghulam Nabi Khayal

July 15, 1984

ISSUE DATE: July 15, 1984

UPDATED: April 23, 2014 15:42 IST

When Jehan Ara, 15, a labourer's daughter from Samastipur in West Bengal's Murshidabad district, was sweet-talked into going for a holiday in Kashmir by Mustafa some five months ago, she had little idea that it was to be the beginning of a nightmare journey.

Mustafa, a local pimp, took her to Gond Ibrahim village, some 25 km north of Srinagar where she was handed over to Abdullah Giani. Giani, in turn, sold her to a 20-year-old Kashmiri, Ibrahim Dar, for Rs 1,600.

Ignoring her protests and pleas, she was hustled into marriage with Dar and then forced to succumb to humiliating sex with his brothers and various villagers. "At first, I refused to succumb but I was beaten up severely and they threatened to kill me. I had no choice but to give in," she says.

(From left) Jehan Ara, Saimoona and Zahida: Flesh trade victims

Saimoona, 18, has a similar story to relate. The daughter of a beggar in Murshidabad, she was also sold along with her seven-year-old daughter to procurers for Rs 500 and found herself in Gond Ibrahim in the hands of Giani, the area's principal supplier of girls. She was "married" to Ishaq Dar, 50, the father of nine children.

In her own words, she is nothing but a slave in the Dar household. "Both me and my daughter work in the paddy fields all day and then are forced to do hard labour in the house after dark." She has been threatened with the rape of her daughter if she attempts to escape.

Tragically, these are just two examples of the horror stories that started surfacing last fortnight in Gond Ibrahim and three adjacent villages. Initial investigations reveal that only the tip of the proverbial iceberg has been unearthed in what is a long-standing and flourishing racket in slave trade from the northern parts of West Bengal to Kashmir.

Ironically enough, the Kashmir police were forced to take action after a local newspaper carried a story about the scandal. The crime branch, in a belated move, managed to rescue three girls from their inhuman bondage but indications are that there are over 200 such young girls, mostly in their teens, who have been sold into slavery.

Originally from poor Bihari Muslim families who migrated to West Bengal in the wake of the 1971 Bangladesh war, the illiterate girls are lured to Kashmir with the promise of employment.

Once in Kashmir, they are virtually abducted, forced into marriage with aged or disabled Kashmiri villagers and then sold numerous times for use as sex objects or household slaves for life. The rates for each girl vary between Rs 1,000 and Rs 5,000 depending on age and physical attributes.

However, police action so far has yielded little results. Cases have been registered against 11 people, eight Kashmiris and three Bengalis, involved in the racket, but all of them are still untraceable. Even the locals involved in the area, which covers barely a 10 sq km area, are still to be apprehended.

Says Azhar Nomani, deputy inspector general of police who is in charge of the investigations: "It will take some time to locate all the girls. We will have to examine them individually before charge-sheeting the accused in a court of law."

The third girl rescued by the police is Zahida, 17, also from Murshidabad who was sold to a barber Talib Hajjam, for Rs 1,300. The indignities she was subjected to must have been inhuman since she refuses to speak about them though her tears are eloquent enough indications.

Meanwhile, the scandal has aroused considerable indignation in the valley. Nasima Akhtar, president of the Kashmir Council of the National Federation of Indian Women, has filed a writ petition alleging police complicity in the flesh trade. Acting on this, Justice M.L. Bhat of the Jammu & Kashmir High Court has asked the chief judicial magistrate, Srinagar, to submit a detailed report after investigating the scandal.

Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah has also instructed the crime branch of the police to thoroughly probe the "disgraceful matter". But since the police only managed to unearth three girls and none of the local culprits involved, it could be a long time before the real extent of the racket sees the light of day.

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